Four tornadoes hit Poconos 10 years ago

One of the greatest tornado outbreaks in state history tore through Pennsylvania 10 years ago this weekend. Four twisters hit Pike County.There were no deaths or serious injuries in the Poconos. But, a decade later, it's easy to find places where the wind flattened sturdy hardwood forests.

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By SUSAN KOOMAR

poconorecord.com

By SUSAN KOOMAR

Posted Jun. 1, 2008 at 12:01 AM
Updated Jun 1, 2008 at 1:40 AM

By SUSAN KOOMAR

Posted Jun. 1, 2008 at 12:01 AM
Updated Jun 1, 2008 at 1:40 AM

Wicked winds

Largest tornado outbreak in Pennsylvania history:

May 31, 1998 (Memorial Day)

Between 7 and 10 p.m.

Four tornadoes in Pike County

Tornado One: Hit...

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Wicked winds

Largest tornado outbreak in Pennsylvania history:

May 31, 1998 (Memorial Day)

Between 7 and 10 p.m.

Four tornadoes in Pike County

Tornado One: Hit Promised Land State Park about 8:10 p.m.; unusually large — 550 yards wide, followed a two-mile path. Hundreds of trees knocked down in about four minutes. Two cabins destroyed. Storm rated F2 (118-157 mph).

Tornado Two: Paralleled Interstate 84 for three miles a little farther east, lifted just east of Route 739.

Tornado Three: Dropped from same supercell thunderstorm in southeastern Pike County at 8:20 p.m., cut a nearly continuous 20-mile path, longest in the region's history. Strength reached F3 (158-plus mph) near Blue Heron Lake. Tornado went up and down several hills and ridges defying the myth that twisters only go over flat terrain. Ended just north of Dingmans Ferry.

Tornado Four: Final weak storm touched down near Greentown, path about a quarter-mile long and just under 100 feet wide, rated F0 (65 mph)

Also

March 21, 1976: Tornado hit downtown Stroudsburg causing several injuries and touched down briefly in Delaware Water Gap

July 5, 1888: Tornado injured a family, some seriously, near Long Pond

Primary Source: The Pennsylvania Weather Book (Ben Gelber, 2002)

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Editor's Note: This article has been corrected to qualify the 1998 tornadoes as one of the worst outbreaks in state history, not the most severe, which happened in May 1985.

They say the sky turned an eerie greenish black and the wind sounded, well even though it's a cliche, it sounded like a freight train.

Most folks thought it was an exceptionally ferocious but ordinary storm. Not so.

One of the greatest tornado outbreaks in state history tore through Pennsylvania 10 years ago this weekend. Four twisters hit Pike County.

There were no deaths or serious injuries in the Poconos. But, a decade later, it's easy to find places where the wind flattened sturdy hardwood forests.

"It cut through the whole park," said Jen Naugle, environmental education specialist at Promised Land State Park, about 10 miles north of Canadensis.

Rangers had just 15 minutes to alert campers spread across 3,000 acres.

"That's a lot of ground to cover," Naugle said.

Some people hid in pipe chases in bathrooms. Two cabins on North Shore Road near Sucker Brook were destroyed. Visitors at Lower Lake Campground were stranded until downed trees could be cleared. More than 500 people were trapped in the park overnight.

But long after the destruction, Naugle sees benefits born from nature's wrath. Drive along Lower Lake Road and the tornado's path is still clear. Maples and oaks 100 feet high give way to a broad swath of bushes with nothing much higher than 20 feet. Splintered tangles of tree stumps, trunks and branches are still evident despite logging done to clear much of the debris.

New growth has brought increased diversity to the park, Naugle said. The sunny openness of the shrubby area attracted warblers not found in the park before. Mourning warblers have nested there the past few years.

More varieties of wildflowers, plus raspberry and blackberry bushes, are growing where old-growth trees were wiped out.

"Oaks and conifers are still coming. It's not time for them to be growing yet because it's too early in the cycle," Naugle said.

At Ridgefield Point, the twister hit Promised Land Lake and created two twirling water spouts. The wind ripped off the tops of trees.

Nearby, red oaks have been planted and covered with plastic pipes to protect them from hungry deer. New spruce trees are also growing.

For years after the twister, folks were a little more edgy when storms blew in, Naugle said.

The 1998 storm had "classic severe weather set up for Pennsylvania," said meteorologist Ben Gelber. Low pressure traveled across northern New York, placing northeastern Pennsylvania in unstable air south of a warm front and just ahead of a strong cold front. Strong shifting winds caused concentrated updrafts that — in warm, humid conditions — created almost two dozen tornadoes, Gelber said.

"Most historic Pocono-region tornadoes are small, in large part due to the rugged terrain," he said. "A funnel is more likely to set down on the plateau in northwest Monroe County and southern Wayne and Pike counties, though rarely remaining on the ground for very long."

Naugle urges people to take tornado warnings seriously even though a twister may seem unlikely.

Promised Land rangers still get questioned by visitors who want to know "Why did you take all those trees down?"